Welcome to Presidents Race: Let Teddy Win! What is this site all about?

Presidents Race

The presidents race is a fixture at home games for the Washington Nationals baseball team. In the middle of the fourth inning, a race is conducted between the four presidents featured on Mount Rushmore — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.

During the Nationals first season in Washington, the presidents race was little more than a cute bit of mid-inning entertainment conducted on the RFK Stadium electronic scoreboard. When the Lerner family purchased the Nationals in July of 2006, they introduced live, costumed racing presidents with oversized heads who entered the stadium from the right field corner and ran along the field towards a finish line near home plate. The new, big-headed presidents were an immediate hit.

Let Teddy Win!

It wasn’t apparent to most fans at first, but astute observers of the presidents race began to realize that something unusual was at foot. Day in and day out, the presidents race would be entertaining and occassionally competitive, but no matter how good a start he got, Teddy would somehow always falter before he reached the finish line. That first season finished with Teddy as the only winless racing president.

The streak continued in 2007. The Washington Nationals improved to a fourth place finish as their long rebuilding process continued, and Teddy’s relentless pursuit of his first victory in the Presidents Race became a rallying cry for fans.

2008 looks to be a huge year for Teddy Roosevelt and the Washington Nationals. As the team moves into its new ball park, the big question on the minds of many fans will be whether the team will finally let Teddy win.

Calling all Teddy fans

Do you think this is the year? Is it time for Teddy to break out? Join me in showing our support for Teddy to win the presidents race in 2008. The official Let Teddy Win shop is now open. As next season approaches, I hope to expand letteddywin.com to include standings, photos, videos, and community features.